All students attacked the training dummy, giving Mr. Greyson an idea of where they were all at in terms of power. Aside from Pamella and Leonidas, only one other person managed to score above 16. And that only happened because Kenji's strength was at 15 already.

  "Very well, ye will have a few tests during the training. One of them is to beat the score ye just got. It can be with a different weapon, but ye need to do better than this. Even ye two," the teacher said, pointing at Leonidas and Pamella, the two students who got a score above all the others, "Work to be stronger by the end of the training."

  Leonidas just gave Mr. Greyson a nod, while Pamella started to complain to Hera.

  "Is he crazy? I got double my strength DOUBLE. How am I supposed to beat that?" the blue-haired woman scoffed.

  Hera looked at her and, with a smile, said, "Maybe being angry will help."

  Pamella rolled her eyes, "If that helps, I should do it right now. I'm really pissed."

  "All right, now ye all should have a feel for the weapons. Each of ye pick a weapon ye never used and hit the dummy. Try to see if ye find something ye like. Use the other ones, just stay inside the square on the ground."

  Mr. Greyson flipped a switch on the wall, and enough wooden dummies for the entire class appeared. Around them was a square outline that was big enough to give them all room to move.

  That's how the recruits spent the rest of the day. Trying out all the weapons they could to see if they would find the one that suited them the best. Even Pamella and Leonidas were testing new options, but they started close to what they knew. Using a lance, the trainee who held the top score made a move that could only be described as barefoot jousting. That gave him a score of just 13 before changing back to other types of spears and glaives. By the end of the day, he even had tested a scythe, which was extremely clunky.

  Pamella was no different. She started testing out arm guards, moving on to shields, and even trying out whips. However, after the third time that she almost hit someone else, Mr. Greyson told her to choose the weapon as part of her practice in the next weeks, but to keep it in the wall for now. When the class ended, she was closer to what she knew, using a pair of glove claws, which were essentially gloves with pointy fingers. That seemed to work well with her grapple based combat since it could hold her opponent better and give a bit of damage in the process.

  Hera tried most swords, daggers, and maces. None of them felt right. Then she moved to shields. They were all too big. It made her movements feel awkward. She looked back at the big weapons, picking up one of the double-bladed heavy axes. It had a nice movement, but it wasn't a quick weapon. She would have to be sure to strike at the right time since it would take too much time to go for a second strike. And that didn't seem like a good idea.

  Putting the weapon back on the wall, she went for the bastard sword. It wasn't as heavy, and maybe the swing would be better. It was also a common weapon in cartoons and movies. Because of that, Hera had a few ideas of how to wield it.

  Sadly, it was just an idea. After hitting the dummy a few times, she realized that the weapon was weird. Its reach was smaller than that of a two-handed weapon, and its weight was too much to use it with one hand.

  Then she noticed a chakram, a circular blade with a handle in the middle. It was the weapon that the hero used on her favorite TV show. She picked the chakram up and tried a few times, swinging it and getting ready to throw it at the dummy. But before she made her attack, one of the boys in the class said.

  "Hey, look at the warrior princess over there."

  That caused a few of the other students to laugh and snicker. Hera decided not to bother even testing the weapon. She had already received special treatment from the guild. The last thing she wanted was to give the other students any more reason to pick on her.

  The last weapon she tested was the hand axe. It had a powerful impact, and the speed wasn't that bad. But even though she managed to hit the wooden blade on the target most of the time, she realized that it was something she needed to keep in mind while fighting.

  Since a big part of the weapon was just the handle, if she got distracted, she would end up missing the blade. Against a target that would not fight back, there was no problem, but if it was an actual monster, she would probably have gotten badly hurt.

  Still, Hera felt comfortable with the axe, even if it was a bit trickier to use. At the end of the day, she went back to the sword, thinking it was easier to learn something more mainstream.

  During practice, Pamella gave Hera some tips about her footwork. How to maintain her balance and make sure the motion wouldn't cause her to trip. Seeing that, Leonidas also chimed in, talking about the importance of not letting her body be too stiff. As that would become a hindrance if she were in an actual fight and had to be quick on her feet.

  Hera was really glad there was someone to give her some pointers. When she studied to become an Explorer, her focus was on survival skills and how to locate unique and interesting things in the wild. Combat was never something she truly focused on, but now, it seemed like it would play a bigger part in her life than she first expected.

  "Okay, yer all done for today. Grab whatever ye left in the class and go home. Tomorrow ah want all of ye here at seven."

  "But Mr. Greyson, it's past ten, and I take a couple of hours to get here." One student said.

  The teacher stared at her, "So, ye better get moving, lassie. Explorers might need to spend weeks with little to no sleep. It will be good training for ye."

  Hera looked at the girl, feeling sorry for her. She remembered what it was like to work two hours away from home. Right now, she felt glad to have found a home just one hour away from the guild.

  With the class dismissed, Pamella walked beside Hera towards the classroom, talking about the weapons they tried.

  "There is nothing for me to use. Maybe I should get a spiked armor to hit the monsters when I'm throwing them."

  "Wouldn't the monster get stuck? And if they didn't, you will be showered with their insides. Imagine what the blood would do to your hair, it might even turn purple," Hera said.

  Pamella stopped walking and just stared at Hera, looking horrified.

  "How can you even say that? Not my beautiful hair." She started stroking her hair like it was a puppy who just got hurt.

  "Girls and hair, that is one relationship I will never understand," Leonidas said after he slowed his pace for the two of them to catch up.

  "Don't even try to, we can lose our life but never our hair." Pamella still was pouting after imagining the scene Hera described.

  "Are all of you like that?" Leonidas was rolling his eyes, which made Hera laughed before answering

  "I can't say for all of us, but I would gladly go bald to save my life," she looked back at Pamella "Sorry."

  With a look of shock, Blue chanted, "Blasphemy, heresy, treason!"

  The trio giggled and kept discussing the weapons they tried and how each felt. It was just like Helena had said. Once you become an explorer. It is hard to think about anything else.

  When they reached the classroom, Hera saw the students picking up a bag that had the guild symbol on the front.

  "Humm... Pamella? Where did you buy that one?" She said, pointing at the bag.

  "You mean the bag? It was in the care package we all got when we enrolled in the class. Didn't you get one?"

  Hera froze. She just realized Helena asked to meet her after the class, and she was making her wait.

  "I have to go. I need to go talk to someone."

  Before even getting an answer, she was running back to the reception. Picking up her cellphone, she quickly typed.

  I'm so, so sorry. I forgot we still had things to do. Are you still in the guild?

  She went to the stairway, almost jumping the steps, before seeing a new message pop on her phone.

  You forgot about little old me? Ohhh Hera, I thought you liked me T.T JK!! Don't worry, sweetie. I'm still here dealing with some paperwork. Meet you at the Heroes Hall in 15.

  Seeing the text, Hera relaxed a bit and stopped running. She didn't want to make Helena wait. Hera felt she owed Helena everything. She even laughed at herself for being so dramatic. It was just the second day after she had a life-changing event.

  Stepping onto the ground floor, Hera noticed she still had over ten minutes to kill, and the Heroes Hall was right around the corner. On the other side of that hallway was the training area that they spent most of the day at. But more importantly, where other explorers were also practicing their moves.

  During class, Mr. Greyson scolded anyone who tried looking at the other explorers, saying that they should focus on the other students, as they were their future party members. Now, Hera had a chance to see how real explorers practiced.

  She walked towards the big glass wall and saw that the training area was far from empty, although it wasn't exactly crowded either.

  There were a couple sparring near the dummies they used during class. One of the men used a two-handed sword while his partner used a pair of rapiers, one shorter than the other. It felt somewhat similar to what old samurai would use. A long and a short blade, but it was the first time Hera saw rapiers being used like that.

  The two of them seemed to be training a specific move. The sword wielder repeated the same attack, an overhead swing, while the other man tried to parry it. Using the two rapiers to deflect the blow and use the momentum generated to go on the offensive.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Hera was looking at both, trying to see how their bodies moved with each attack. Where they were putting the weight of their body, and the point where they were focusing, trying her best to absorb some of the technique. Until in one parry, a loud clang rang, and the two-handed sword was pushed back, making the man holding it spin around. The one holding the rapiers moved quickly, and both blades were now close to the first man's neck.

  The two of them looked at each other with big smiles and repeated the same move a couple more times. After the fifth time in a row that the sword was pushed back, the one holding the rapiers stopped and waved his hands in the air. There was a pause before he started laughing and gave his sparring partner a high five. That turned into a hug and then a quick kiss. Hera looked away at that point. She never had a problem with public displays of affection, but it wasn't like she enjoyed watching them.

  Looking at a clock on the wall, she noticed it was time to go. Hera started walking towards the Heroes Hall. When she turned the corner, she almost bumped into a man wearing mirrored sunglasses, a long burgundy trench coat, and a bright pink Mohawk.

  She froze for a second. It was the same man who tossed her out of the leveling chamber. He stretched out his hand towards her, and instinctively she ran. The man attacked her before, what if he tried to do something like that again?

  Moving as fast as she could, Hera hoped that Helena had arrived already. Maybe the guild clerk was high enough level to protect her. Or maybe there would be more people looking at the stained glass. If that were the case, someone might step in and stop this man from hurting her again.

  When she finally arrived at her destination, she looked around, but Helena was still nowhere to be seen. Hera walked towards the back of the room, panting a bit, but before she could relax, she saw the man with the pink mohawk walk in the hall.

  Hera stepped back, panicking until her back hit the wall under the stained-glass picture of Undine. She saw the man getting closer and raising his hand towards her and then.

  Darkness.

  She had her eyes shut so tightly that her head started to hurt. Yet, she refused to open them. Instead, she waited for the fireball or whatever was going to hit her. Maybe Undine's energy on the stained glass would be enough to stop the attack, but Hera doubted that.

  "Get the hell away from her, Ashe. I told you it wasn't the time," a familiar voice echoed.

  Carefully opening her eyes, she saw Helena in front of her, with dark smoke enveloping both her and the guild clerk.

  "But I want to apologize to her!" the man protested.

  The dark smoke seemed to lash out towards Ashe like whips, making him jump backwards. Hera could see Helena's hair changing color, becoming darker and darker. A few of her curls also seemed to ooze out the smoke that stretched and expanded from her head.

  "I do not care what you want! You attacked a civilian!" Helena yelled before returning her voice to a more stable tone, "The Guild's job is to protect the people outside the MAZE, not to harm them. The second you did that you lost any rights you had to ask for something. Now get out of here, you are still suspended for the next six months."

  Ashe tried to speak again, but very few who knew her would dare to anger Helena. Her level was higher than his. He knew that. He also knew that she was famous for fighting against monsters almost ten levels higher than her without a problem.

  Hera just hid behind Helena until the man left. Her back wasn't hurting, not really. And while the scar was still there, it was healed. Visible, yes but that was it. The level up somehow fixed any pain that she might be feeling there.

  Yet, she could still feel the sting, the burning. Above all else, she could still feel the fear of being attacked by someone beyond the realm of normalcy. It was like a claw grasping her throat, so much so that she was even having trouble breathing.

  Hera didn't even notice how, in a matter of seconds, Ash had left. Only when Helena's hands were touching her shoulder that she regained some composure and slowly started to breathe again.

  "Are you okay? Did he do something to you?" Helena voice was trembling, but Hera couldn't tell if it was panic or anger.

  "I'm... I'm okay." Hera spoke without air in her lungs.

  "No, you are not okay. You can say when something is wrong, sweetie."

  Hera forced herself to stop shaking. She didn't realize how terrified she was of the man after the previous day, but it all made sense. During her hurry to get out of the guild, she didn't even consider asking someone to check her injuries. She was already in the best place to look for help with that. But the only thing she was thinking was to run back home.

  Once again, she felt stupid. She was better than that. Her intelligence might have been lower at the time, but that wasn't an excuse for that level of stupidity. Now, she was an explorer. She can be better than that.

  She needed to be better.

  "Hera? Sweetie? Please say something. We can go after a healer if you like. They have skills to help you calm down."

  Hera shook her head, "No, thank you. I'm ... I'm going to be okay," she gave a weak smile, taking deep breaths to steady herself.

  Helena found it amazing. For a high-level explorer like her, what happened to Hera was nothing more than a bad day hunting. However, for a civilian who had just got their first level up, an attack like the one Ashe did would be the same as taking a direct hit from a dungeon boss twice your level. Many explorers would quit or take an extended leave when faced with a situation like that one. And there was this girl facing the same boss two days in a row.

  She was still shaking, obviously terrified, but she refused to let that pull her down. The fire in her eyes was still burning.

  Helena gave Hera a big smile, "Okay, but I want you to promise me you will talk to me if you feel like it's too much. Pinky promise," She raised her hand while holding her pinky out.

  Hera laughed a bit. How can someone change from being strong and mature to acting like a preteen so quickly? She linked her pinky with Helena's.

  "Pinky promise," she said while linking their pinkies together.

  "Great, now let's go to the office. I still have some things to give you."

  Helena walked towards the door, holding Hera's hand. But stopped and looked around, making sure Ashe wasn't in the hallway before continuing towards the office.

  It wasn't a long walk, and the mage refused to let Hera's hand go. Soon both of them were sitting down at the same desk they were at earlier that day. Hera felt weird. It seemed like it's been more than a week since she sat there.

  "So, Hera, I got all your data. Now, I just need to give you your pre... Post first day information. First, the class starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. This can change depending on the teacher, but most follow that schedule. If you get sick, our healers can help you, so you don't miss any classes," Helena was looking at a computer screen to make sure she had the right information.

  "At the end of the course, you will all have a test to ensure you can deal with the MAZE exploration. If you pass, you are a full-fledged explorer. If you fail the final test, you can try the makeup test two times. That only happens at the end of every month. After that, if you still can't pass the test, you need to wait 6 months and retake the class. During that time, you can work in the guild as a clerk and use the facilities. If you have another job, you can work there, no problem." Helena turned to Hera with a smile.

  "Now, about the pay, when you become an explorer, it's going to be about contributions, and items and a lot more variables so I won't get into that until you pass the test. As a recruit, you have a 2 thousand gold allowance for the month. This should be enough to live comfortably, and if you become a clerk, that will be your monthly wage. You also get this care package," Helena placed a bag with the guild logo on the table.

  "Here you have a guild tablet, a holster for it, a set of training clothes in your size, a patch that you can put on any clothing to show you are a guild trainee, and a bracelet. This is essentially a human black box. It tracks your vitals and location inside the MAZE. It can only see the room you are in, but it still can be helpful if needed. In addition, once you put it on, it will be linked to your biosignature. Meaning no one can forcefully remove the bracelet from you, and if they steal it, it won't work for them. The bracelet also works as an access card here in the guild."

  Hera struggled to take in all the information. It was a lot, and the biggest surprise was the payment. She knew explorers made a lot of money, but if even recruits got 2 thousand gold. How much a could level 18 make? Apparently, the guild was also very kind when it came to failing the test. Even to the point of giving her a job while she tried to pass.

  "Oh, right! Before I forget, you also get a 500 gold bonus for each skill you discovered. And if we can confirm that anyone who meets the requirements can evolve the skill, you will get an extra 500. There is another 250 if you find any other information on how the skill works. Then again, your skill is very straightforward. If you figure out how one can awaken your second skill, that will be another 500 and the same 250 for any new information you can give us about that skill."

  Hera was looking at Helena with disbelief. Her wage as a bookseller was only 750 gold a month. And now she was getting 3 thousand in one go? Either being an explorer meant she was going to get rich quickly, or her last job was worse than she thought.

  Seeing her face, Helena let out a sigh, "I know you are getting way underpaid for the skills, but that is a guild rule. The prices of skills vary depending on several factors. The strength, the method of acquiring it, the number of people who would have access to it. Just because your skills seem to require a rare innate skill, they gave the lowest pay to it. Even though it's an overpowered skill."

  Hera shook her head. "No, no, no, it wasn't a complaint. It's just... this is more than three times my previous salary. Does an explorer really make that much money?"

  Helena giggled, "Not at all. This much money a level 5 explorer can make in a bad week of hunting. A terrible one actually, maybe killing around 10 low tier monsters a day."

  "Really?" Hera was in shock. Making 3 thousand gold a week sounded impossible.

  The mage just nodded, "Really, after level 10, almost everything you buy, aside from food, will be a few thousand. Later on, you might even start using platinum as a currency. That's just a name, not the actual metal, but each platinum bill is worth 100 thousand gold each."

  "So, do I have to change my money then?" Hera frowned, thinking about all the problems that could bring.

  "Well, if you want sure, but since almost everything is digital these days, you don't have to worry about it. Your money will go straight to your bracelet, and when you reach a safe point, it will go to the guild bank. Or any other bank that you have an account at. It's all automatic, so that helps a lot." Helena went back to typing a few things.

  Hera picked the bracelet up and looked at it. It was a deep black color, and it had some runes inscribed around it.

  Seeing what the new recruit was doing, Helena added, "When you put on the bracelet, it will be bound to you. You can shower and swim with it all you want, it won't break. And if you remove it and move more than 50 meters away, it will teleport back to your wrist. That's my favorite feature. You can disable that, but you have to do it in the guild. It's a safety measure to make sure no one gets lost without it."

  Helena tapped on the tablet in front of her, and her bracelet appeared on her wrist. It was three metal chains spiraling around each other, a gold, a silver and a black one. They seemed to be individual, but when Helena moved one, all three moved in sync.

  "You can customize or make it disappear as you wish. It just takes a bit of time to make a more intricate design. Since it needs to be drawn by hand on the tablet. Then you just hit apply and the bracelet will change accordingly."

  Hera couldn't help but be impressed by Helena's bracelet. It was such an intricate design, and that likely meant there was a wide range of possibilities to work with.

  "Did you make that one?" she asked without taking her eyes out of the metal chains.

  "Sort of, I made the idea and created a basic drawing. Then I asked a crafter friend of mine to make it. Honestly, my drawings are not that good, and crafters seem to have skills that help with this. But it's a bit too flashy for the world outside the MAZE," Helena tapped on the tablet again, and the bracelet vanished.

  "Can you show me how to do that?" Hera asked, looking at her own wrist.

  "Of course!"

  Helena held back a smile. She was glad Hera asked for something. It was the first time she had heard the girl doing that, even though it was something really simple. A couple of minutes later, Hera was able to toy with the wristband. There were two options for changing the bracelet. A drawing or a 3D model. Most people would use a picture since it was easier to make, and the application would extrapolate the rest. But Hera always liked the 3D modeling classes that she took when in school. She could very well give it a go later.

  "Ok, ok, ok, let's not get carried away here. If you want to make your own design, let me finish what I need first." Helena passed a few contracts to Hera sign, standard explorer things.

  A life insurance, authorization to make the knowledge of the skills available to all, and a nondisclosure agreement that says she is not allowed to give information about the MAZE or the explorers to any civilian unless it is a life and death situation. This was just to make sure no civilian would try to do something that would put them in danger. Hera gave no mind to it since it was common knowledge that the explorers wouldn't talk about the MAZE to civilians. Even if she always found that somewhat strange.

  "Okay, now we are done. Do you have any other questions, sweetie?"

  Hera thought for a second.

  "Just one, what are monster tiers?"

  Helena gave a smile, "That, my dear, is for Calvin to tell you in your class."

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